A new Sandman book? How snazzy is that?

I’ll just say immediately that this is a great book. While a few of the thematic elements are overstated, the writing is gorgeous, and the art is breathtaking. I only had one real problem with the book, which is that it ties the story up so neatly—it’s amazing, that Gaiman was able to do it at all, and it does add to that sense of fate I mentioned earlier. But it also makes the entire arc so neat, the I ended up missing some of the looser feeling of earlier books. Where reading, say, A Game of You had that sense of “What’s going to happen next???” reading Overture I found myself saying “Of course this had to happen. And that will have to lead to that. Oh, no.” But I also think that that’s the function of this book. Overture is about responsibility, the way we create ourselves with our choices, the way even the tiniest mistakes can destroy a universe.

No pressure.

Sandman: Overture is a prequel story, set before Preludes and Nocturnes. It sounds fabulous, if probably pretty dark. I must have it. Luckily, Overture is available now, and with Amazon Prime, I will have it in my hands when I get back from WindyCon. There’s a link from Schnelbach’s post that will let you pick it up from any seller, if you’re a fan.